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Hotel Palumbo Ravello
Location
A terrace open to the sea, from which one’s enjoys the most unique scenery in the world.
It is from the "terrace of the infinite" that the Coast of Amalfi appears like a vision. As the view spans from Atrani to the gulf of Salerno and as far as the plain of Paestum.
An alchemy of art and nature. Between 11th and 12th Cent. Ravello a thriving commercial centre, trading with the Middle East and Sicily, as evidenced by the numerous buildings in Arab-Siculo style, built by the wealthy merchant families.
Today of those "Ancient Times" one can visit various works of great artistic value like the Duomo, the splendid Villa Cimbrone and romantic Villa Rufolo. A mild climate, the ancestral atmosphere and its unmistakable characteristics make Ravello the ideal place for a unique stay.
The Hotel Palumbo is located in the historical part of Ravello, on the highest point of town, overlooking the sea and the Amalfi Coast. 350 m. above sea level.
Ravello is easy to reach, situated in the centre of the Amalfi Coast, it is equally distant from all the major points of interest, artistic, cultural, panoramic and also from all the points of communications.
The Confalone Building
The Hotel still preserves reminiscences of the original medieval structure of the 12th Century Palazzo Confalone. Other architectural and decorative elements were added in the 17th Century. The architecture of the building is in itself a mosaic of time. The five different levels of the building do not correspond to modern-day storeys, since the original structure was essentially vertical, but irregular. Additional wings and a tower-like extra storey contribute to the maze of unpredictable openings, corners and corridors.
The hall has kept the original nature of court it once had:
- the ogival arches are of Moorish influence;
- precious ancient Greek and Roman marble columns from Paestum and the Amalfi Coast;
- multicolour ceramic floors made of tiles with geometric and floral patterns, Pasquale Vuilleumier and John Huston designed them in 1952 while “The African Queen” was being filmed at the hotel;
- stairs climb to the upper levels in a feast of ornaments and elaborate motifs which act as frames to the rooms and other areas of the hotel.
Adjacent to the hall is the reception area, the lounge and the bar, all characterised by a sequence of arches, typical of Arabic-Norman architecture, standing on marble columns imported in 1200.
A light-structure stone gallery overhangs the courtyard like a graceful, medieval balcony. The old courtyard stairway leads to the upper rooms, the dining room, the solarium, and to some of the bedrooms. Large windows open onto the Gulf of Salerno, showing the quaint sea villages that dot the coastline from Amalfi all the way to the distant coast of Cilento.
The Vuilleumier’ refined taste is particularly evident in the interiors of bedrooms and communal living rooms: each individual piece of furniture and ornament belongs to the family home and all rooms and communal areas have multicolour ceramic floorings dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
The view and the landscape.
Hotel Palumbo stands in one of Ravello’s most enchanting spots, 350 metres above sea level, and offers a breath-taking view of the Amalfi Coast. From here, your gaze can wander out to the furthest point of the Gulf of Salerno, the Cilento Coast and the archaeological inland area of Paestum.
The blue of the sky and the green of the garden are one with the building…
The astounding blues of sky and sea are enhanced by the intense green of the Hotel’s Mediterranean gardens, which blend naturally with the building and its elaborate network of pergolas spreading across the walls and covered with climbing plants. The scent of orange blossom accompanies the wonderful views that can be enjoyed from the guests’ rooms. The design of the exterior has been kept as close as possible to the original.
Orange and lemon trees, rose-beds and old vines abut a 17th Century colonnade that frames marvellous views of the Amalfi Coast, the Gulf of Salerno and Punta Licosa.
Accomodations
The sky in the rooms.
To give nights a name, each room is entitled, evoked.
Rooms and suites at Hotel Palumbo feature a mixture of arches, corridors, corners, niches and passageways – a composition of ‘nests’ for the imagination, which opens onto the sun of Ravello and onto the Amalfi Coast’s mellow nights.
To avoid the arid convention of numbering the rooms, we have preferred to use names. Vaulted rooms, thick walls – a reminiscence of past architecture – corridors and floors enhance the luminous nakedness of the typical white colour of Mediterranean interiors.
Each room in unique, reconciling the medieval origins of the building with ingenious use of space. All the rooms are furnished with antiques from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries belonging to the Vuilleumier family. Faithful to the principle of individuality, the detailing in each room is different.
The Hotel Palumbo has just seventeen rooms. If it had more, it would lose the special nature of a private residence for a select clientele for which it has always been appreciated.
Facilities
FACILITIES WITHIN THE HOTEL
The Confalone Restaurant
The 17th century room that houses the restaurant is named “San Giovanni”, after the priceless painting of St. John the Baptist by Guido Reni, one of Caravaggio’s pupils. The work symbolizes the way beauty can be conveyed by art and speaks for the intensity of aesthetic pleasure: it was for the beauty of Salome, for her mesmerising dances, that the Baptist was beheaded. A frescoed ceiling, a large wooden arch – originally the entrance to an alcove– and terracotta floors with ceramic tile inserts are the other significant features of the room.
Again, the “Sala Grande”, the large restaurant room, dominated by a massive fireplace from the turn of the century and a finely decorated majolica floor dating back to the 18th century. The room overlooks the panoramic terrace.
The aesthetics of food establish canons of harmony that delight the eye as well as the palate. You can feast on the view from the terrace of the “Confalone” Restaurant.
Guests can choose to have lunch or dinner outdoors, enjoying the panorama of the coast.
For lunch, in addition to the “à-la-carte” menu, the restaurant offers a list of recommended dishes. In the evenings, when the atmosphere grows almost magical, there are specially devised dishes that reflect the changing seasons. As well as local, regional and national cuisine, you will be able to taste specially selected products thanks to the expertise of our chef.